


Sweeter than chocolate

by Queerklancing



Series: Lance's birthday! [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9721778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerklancing/pseuds/Queerklancing
Summary: “He doesn’t even have a Valentine…. Or does he?” Keith says casually and tries not to stare at Hunk in anticipation.“Oh my god,” Hunk says and Keith’s head whips up to see Hunk staring at him with wide eyes.“You seriously don’t know.”Keith drops his knife to his lap, panic rising from his stomach to his chest.“What?” he asks and he feels his heartrate picking up. “Oh my god I hope he isn't planning to confess to Allura because that would be-““Dude”, Hunk interrupts him. “Lance isn’t excited because it’s Valentine’s. It’s his birthday.”“Huh?”“His birthday is February 14th.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's day everyone! :D I just couldn't resist writing a sweet little something for this special day! So here is some fluff for you guys! :)  
> Half of the credit for this story goes to [@Sweetpopcornkat](http://sweetpopcornkat.tumblr.com/) my partner in crime :D Her ideas are alway AMAZING ( and yes I know that you will use this to blackmail me later) and her art is SO CUTE so check it out! :D
> 
> Ps: I didn't forget Booty shorts HAHA! I'll update it soon! :D

Keith wakes up and stares right into the beaming face of the sun. He groans and closes his eyes again.

“Wake up Mullet-man,” the sun says and Keith groans again, when Lance nudges his shoulder.

“Go away,” he mumbles into his pillow and pulls the blanket above his head. It’s way too early to deal with this.

“Oh my god, how can you be such a heavy sleeper? It doesn’t fit your emo image at all!”

Keith buries his head deeper into his pillows in an attempt to muffle the relentless babbling coming out of Lance’s mouth. It’s _way_ too early to deal with this shit.

“Get up!”

There’s another push to his shoulder, but Keith can already feel how the softness of his bed lulls him to sleep again.

“Fine! If you don’t get up I’ll … I’ll crawl into your bed!”

“Suit yourself,” Keith mumbles into his pillow and feels his consciousness drifting away.

“Fine!”

Keith is only distantly aware of a rustling sound and then he feels how the mattress dips next to him.

“Scoot over.”

Keith groans, but does as he’s told. He automatically lifts the blanket and Lance chuckles, while he shifts closer. Keith puts his arm down and wraps both of them in the blanket. A content sigh leaves his lips when Lance finally settles down, snuggled into his side. He can feel himself relax into the warmth of another body by his side.

“God why are you so warm?” Lance chuckles and Keith only hums in response, still too drowsy to talk.

“But that’s good, because my feet are always cold.”

The next thing Keith knows is that someone put a blog of ice on his legs.

“Fuck!”

His eyes fly open and he sees how Lance laughs, while pushing his foot between Keith’s calves.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

And suddenly Keith is very awake, and very aware of the fact, that _Lance is laying in his bed._

He feels heat flaring to his cheeks and tries to push Lance, who is now openly cackling, off his bed.

“You invited me into your bed!” Lance laughs and by now Keith is sure that his face his bright red.

“I was sleeping!”

“Well, it didn’t seem like you disliked it.”

“Shut up!” Keith yells, pushes and Lance eyes go wide and he yelps when he falls backwards and tumbles out of the bed.

“Oh shit,” Keith hisses and leans forward to look down at Lance. Lance blinks a few times in surprise and then he starts laughing again. Keith feels a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He clears his throat to hide it, when Lance sits up and rubs his back with a painful expression on his face.

“So, what do you want?” Keith asks.

“Breakfast is ready.”

Keith frowns.

“That’s why you tried to freeze me with your feet?”

And now Lance’s lips split into a wide grin.

“I have an important announcement to make.”

 

* * *

  

“Everyone! Attention please!” Lance says and claps his hands together. Keith lifts his head, while putting a spoonful of space cereal into his mouth. At their last trip to the mall Hunk found a bunch of ingredients and experimented with them. Yesterday they had some kind of blueish pastries that actually tasted like pancakes.

Lance is standing at the front of the table and he’s practically beaming. Pidge on the other hand, stands next to him with a scowl on her face.

“Pidge and I have a huge announcement to make!” Lance says and sends a smile to Pidge, who only raises one eyebrow in acknowledgment.

“Oh god,” Shiro groans under his breath, but Keith hears it and snorts. He covers his mouth with one hand, when Lance glares in his direction. But it’s not enough to demolish Lance’s enthusiasm.

“Pidge and I build something amazing!” he says and lifts his arms in a grand gesture.

“More like Lance whined and begged until I agreed to build it,” Pidge deadpans and pulls a device out of her pocket. “Ta-da.”

It looks exactly like a standard ticker.

“What is it?” Allura asks and she seems genuinely interested in it.

“This my dear princess, is a device that shows us what day it is on earth!” Lance says, puts his hands on his waist and raises his chin with a proud grin.

“Are you serious?”

Hunk puts down his spoon, but he looks at Pidge with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, I noticed that the ticker can show us the date of the altean calendar. So, I modified the algorithm of this ticker to locate earth time. It may not be the exact date but it should be close,” Pidge explains with a grin and adjusts her glasses.

“Pidge that’s amazing!” Shiro says and gives her one of his soft smiles.

“Come on! Show us how it works!” Hunk says and excitedly fidgets in his chair.

“I wonder how much time has passed,” Shiro mumbles. And now Keith realizes that he doesn’t have a clue how long they’ve been gone. In space, time becomes unimportant. The castle has its own day and night simulation but Keith doubts that it’s anywhere close to the time they experience on earth.

Pidge presses her index finger on the screen of the ticker and a pair of orange signs appear on them.

“What does it say?” Keith asks and furrows his brows.

“Oh yeah, the ticker only knows Altean,” Pidge explains. “It says it’s the 13th day of Jahsk.”

“Sooo again, what does that mean?” Keith stresses and turns around when Coran starts explaining.

“Similar to earth time-measuring, the Alteans divide the year into 12 segments. Jahsk is the second segment of the year.”

“So it’s February 13th,” Pidge says and before Keith can even think about what that means, Lance throws his hands in the air.

“Which means that tomorrow is Valentine’s day!”

Pidge pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. Keith, Hunk and Shiro groan in unison, while Lance’s smile is brighter than the sun.

“What’s Valentine’s Day?” Allura asks and Shiro’s head falls back with another painful groan.

“The day of love, romance and confessions!” Lance explains and dramatically presses a hand to his chest. “A day where humans celebrate love and give presents to their loved ones!”

Allura claps her hands together and squeals in delight. “Oh, that’s lovely! We also have a day like that in our calendar!”

“Really?” Lance asks and to Keith’s surprise hurries over to sit at Allura’s side.

“Yeah, usually it includes giving a bouquet of Valurian snails,” Coran chimes in. “I once made a bouquet with twenty of the slimiest snails a girl could wish for.” He proudly twirls his moustache around his finger when Allura gasps in awe.

“Really, snails?” Hunk asks around a mouthful of cereal. “On earth, we usually give flowers or chocolate.”

A longing sigh escapes Keith’s lips at the thought of chocolate.

“What’s chocolate?” Allura asks in Hunk’s direction but the words are out of Keith’s mouth before Hunk gets a chance to explain.

“A delicious sweet treat we have on earth.”

“Huh,” Lance says with a grin. “Never thought that you’d like chocolate.”

Keith averts his eyes when he feels heat rising to his cheek.

“Who doesn’t like chocolate,” he murmurs and turns his attention to his breakfast. He still hears Lance chuckle and feels his face grow even hotter. Next to him Pidge snorts, but yelps when Keith jabs her with his elbow.

“But what’s dangerous about making chocolate?” Allura asks and Keith is glad that the question attracts everyone’s attention.

“It’s not dangerous at all. At least when you know what you’re doing,” Hunk explains and Allura frowns.

“In Altea we collect Valurian snails to show our loved ones how brave we are.”

“You have to climb into the belly of a Valurian to get them after all,” Coran says.

“Why do you always have to climb into some weird alien species to collect things?!” Hunk groans.

“I think it’s cute,” Lance says and there’s an enchanted look on his face.

“What the hell is cute about getting slimy snails?” Keith snorts and Lance glares in his direction.

“It’s romantic, Keith!” Lance hisses. “Well, I didn’t expect _you_ to understand that.”

“Excuse me for not wanting to crawl into another alien creature.”

Keith rolls his eyes, when he sees the surprised smile Shiro gives him and realizes what he just said.

“N-Not that I was even thinking about doing that!” he bristles and now he’s sure that his cheeks are red.

 _What is wrong with me today?_ he thinks and attacks his space cereal, which is already mushy. Pidge opens her mouth to say something but closes it when Keith glares at her. Luckily the conversation drifts to other Altean traditions and they compare them to human ones.

Lance is animatedly talking to Allura about the meaning of flowers and Keith takes the opportunity to stare at him. It didn’t really come as a surprise that Lance likes Valentine’s day. Keith wonders how many times Lance probably confessed his love to a girl on this day. There’s a weird sting in his chest at the thought and he pulls a face, when he quickly eats another spoon of mushy space cereal.

Keith looks at Shiro, who has a confused expression on his face but still laughs, when Lance explains how badly you can fuck up if you choose the wrong flowers.

And suddenly Keith realizes that all this talk about Valentine’s day traditions completely distracted them from thinking about how long they have been stuck in space.

 

* * *

 

 “Come on, Pidge!” Lance whines and drops his chin on her head. “It’s my special day!”

“It’s not that special,” Pidge grumbles and keeps working on a device in her lap. Keith is sitting on the couch next to Hunk, absentmindedly cleaning his knife, while watching Lance and Pidge.

“You’re like my little sister! You have to give me something!” Lance whines and his whole body goes slack against Pidge’s back. She visibly slumps under his weight and her eye twitches dangerously.

“Why is he so excited about Valentine’s?” Keith scoffs and looks down at his knife. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he feels irritated by Lance’s enthusiasm. Hunk doesn’t look up from the display he is typing on and laughs. “It’s the same every year. I don’t even notice it anymore.”

Keith lifts his head and sees how Shiro pries Lance off Pidge, who looks close to punching him.

“He doesn’t even have a Valentine…. Or does he?” Keith says casually and tries not to stare at Hunk in anticipation.

“Oh my god,” Hunk says and Keith’s head whips up to see Hunk staring at him with wide eyes.

“You seriously don’t know.”

Keith drops his knife to his lap, panic rising from his stomach to his chest.

“What?” he asks and he feels his heartrate picking up. “Oh my god I hope he isn't planning to confess to Allura because that would be-“

“Dude”, Hunk interrupts him. “Lance isn’t excited because it’s Valentine’s. It’s his birthday.”

 “Huh?”

“His birthday is February 14th.”

Keith only stares at Hunk for a few seconds before that information reaches his head.

“WHAT?”

“Oh my god you really didn’t know!”

“No?! How should I know?”

“Dude everyone knows.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yeah, everyone started planning something for him after breakfast,” Hunk says and his face is twisted into a worried expression.

“Are you kidding me?” Keith groans and rubs his forehead, disheveling his hair in the process.

“Yeah. Hey Pidge!”, Hunk yells and Pidge raises her head with a frown on her face.

“What?”

“Do you have a present for Lance?”

Pidge groans and rolls her eyes.

“Well he won’t stop bothering me, so yeah. Why?”

“Just asking,” Hunk replies and Pidge shrugs before going back to work.

“See?” he says and now Keith is really freaking out. Panic bubbles up his throat and his voice breaks when he talks.

“Hunk, what should I do?”

Keith has never been good at getting presents. Or remembering birthdays. Maybe Lance did tell him before and he just forgot? But now that he knows that everyone is planning something, he doesn’t want to be the only one showing up empty-handed.

“Okay, okay! First calm down,” Hunk says and raises his hands in a reassuring gesture. “Take a deep breath.”

Keith inhales quickly, closes his eyes and holds his breath for a few seconds before letting it out in a sigh.

“Good, now listen to me.”

Keith opens his eyes to look into Hunk’s grinning face.

“Because I have the perfect idea.”

 

* * *

 

“Hunk, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’s a perfect idea! Now get over here and help me.”

Keith pulls a face but does as he is told. He bends down to pick up a basket of weird looking red fruits.

Keith can’t believe he’s doing this. He’s standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night, picking up some weird alien fruit.

“Okay, so first we gotta peel these. It’s easy. Here.”

Hunk pushes a knife into Keith’s hands and picks up one of those fruits.

“First you have to remove the black thing on the top like this.”

Hunk quickly cuts off the top. “And then you can just peel the skin down.” He easily removes the skin in a fluid movement. Keith looks down at the fruit in his hands and clumsily copies Hunk’s moves. It looks pale and meaty underneath.

“And this is supposed to taste like chocolate?” he asks and looks at Hunk, who has already peeled four of the fruits.

Hunk glances at him and grins.

“Smell it.”

Keith’s mouth twitches in disgust when he lifts the fruit to his face, but his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, when he inhales the sweet smell of cocoa.

“Wow.”

Hunk laughs and Keith looks at him in awe.

“How do you manage to find these things?” Keith asks and goes back to the task at hand.

“Well, I just bought everything I could find and experimented with it,” Hunk says and shrugs, while dropping another peeled fruit into the basket.

“Originally, I planned to surprise everyone with it but this is even better,” Hunk chuckles and sends Keith a warm smile.

“Do you really think this is a good present?” Keith asks and hisses, when he cuts into his thump.

“Be careful, and yes! Of course, it’s a good present! It’s chocolate… in space!” Hunk exclaims and raises his hands.

Keith sighs and tries to focus on what his hands are doing.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Keith, I’m always right. So, shut up and trust me.”

Keith laughs at these familiar words and picks up another fruit.

After they peeled enough fruits, they mesh them into a pulpy mass. Then Hunk puts in some kind of dark liquid to make it smoother and heats the whole thing up on the altean counterpart of a stove. In the end, they have a dark substance that smells exactly like chocolate.

“Hunk you are amazing, this smells great!” Keith closes his eyes and inhales the familiar scent. A pleasant warmth spreads in his chest and suddenly he knows that Lance will love it. It’s not only chocolate. It feels like home.

“Yeah, I know. So we gotta be quick now and get these in shape before it cools down.”

“Shape?”

                                                                                                                            

* * *

 

 

Keith stares at the mess in front of him and frowns. He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand and smears even more chocolate on his face. He probably looks as exhausted as he feels.

“This is ugly. I can’t give this to him.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not! Look at this!” Keith gestures to the clumps of chocolate in front of him. “And then look at yours!” He points to Hunk’s perfect little chocolates, neatly rowed up in a box.

Hunk chuckles. “What did you even try to make?”

“I… ,“ Keith starts but sighs. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Hunk laughs and pats Keith’s shoulder.

“No it’s not! I can’t give this to him! Just… give him yours or something,” Keith bristles and yelps when Hunk hits his head.

“No! You worked hard on this so you will give it to him and he will love it!” Hunk exclaims and Keith stares at him with wide eyes, while rubbing his head.

“O-Okay.”

“Great.” The smile is back on Hunk’s face like nothing happened. “Let’s clean this mess up and head to bed.”

Keith makes a mental note, not to mess with Hunk, before he gently puts his chocolate into a box.

 

* * *

  

“I can’t do this Hunk.”

“Jesus, relax it’s just a present.”

“I’m sure he will hate it.”

“He won’t hate it!”, Hunk sighs. One of his hands is resting on Keith’s shoulder, but it does nothing to ease the nervousness in Keith’s stomach. He’s holding on to the box of chocolate like his life depends on it.

“See? He likes Pidge’s present,” Hunk says and they both look at Lance who happily leans against Pidge’s back, playing around with the little music-maker Pidge gave him. He almost crushed her in his arms, when he saw it.

“Yeah, but that’s Pidge,” Keith says. “Everyone likes Pidge. Lance and I … aren’t like that.”

“Stop talking like that. He likes you more than you think.”

Keith turns his head to ask what Hunk meant, when Hunk suddenly calls out to Lance.

“Hey Lance, Keith was looking for you!”

Keith’s heart is about to jump out of his throat, when he sees how Lance looks up and smiles. Keith lets out a strangled sound, when Hunk slaps his back hard enough for him to stumble forward.

“Hunk!” he hisses, but Hunk only laughs and runs in Pidge’s direction. Keith quickly hides the box behind his back, when Lance gets up and walks towards him. His smile is so bright that Keith’s heart decides to skip a beat.

“What’s up?” Lance asks and glances at Hunk and Pidge who walk past them to leave the room. Hunk smiles encouragingly at Keith and there’s a mischievous grin on Pidge’s lips. Keith decides to kill them, when this is over. 

He turns to look at Lance who stands in front of him, smiling with an expectant look on his face.

_Okay, now or never._

Keith can feel the beat of his heart in his throat and he swears that his fingers are shaking, when he brings out the gift from behind his back.

He pushes it into Lance’s hands and mumbles: “Here. For you.”

Lance blinks in confusion and stares down at the box in his hands.

Keith wants to punch himself. He should have at least said “Happy Birthday” or something, but now his mouth refuses to move.

Lance is still staring at the box in his hands, without any reaction whatsoever and now Keith feels panic welling up in his chest.

Suddenly Lance moves his hand and carefully opens the box. Keith pulls a face, when he sees that he managed to damage the box with his grip. His present is a disaster.

A weird garbled sound slips out of Lance’s lips and Keith looks up to see how Lance’s face goes from blank to bright red in less than a second. Keith blinks in surprise when he sees how Lance tries to hide his face behind the box with a loud groan.

“Is this chocolate?” Lance asks and his voice is high-pitched and squeaky. Keith really doesn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t this. He stares at the tip of Lance’s ears, which are also quite red.

“Uh, yes. Hunk showed me how to make them,” he says and Lance makes another garbled sound that Keith can’t quite classify. So, he goes for the worst assumption.

“You don’t like it.”

“No!”, Lance squeals and lowers the chocolate. “I love it.”

Keith didn’t think it was possible but Lance’s cheeks grow even redder when their eyes lock. Keith rubs the back of his neck, when he feels how Lance’s embarrassment starts to affect him as well.

“That’s … good, I guess.”

 “I just really didn’t expect to get something from you.”

Lance’s voice is barely a whisper and Keith raises an eyebrow.

“I’m not that big of an asshole.”

 “I know! That’s not what I meant. I mean… It’s just…”, Lance starts and his gaze flickers down to the box in his hands.

“What?”

“It’s the first time I got something.”

Keith snorts. “I’m sure you got something from your friends in the garrison. You were popular.”

“That’s not… it’s the first time I got something that actually means that ….,” Lance’s voice dies before he can finish his sentence.

Lance glances up from the box and he looks so shy and embarrassed that Keith’s heart skips another beat.

“Or did I … read this wrong?”

_Oh._

And then the realization hits Keith.

All of a sudden, his face bursts into flames. Lance’s lips twitch into a smile, when Keith clears his throat and averts his eyes in a hopeless attempt to hide his abashment.

“N-No, I mean uh-” Keith says and he’s so flustered that his voice breaks and he has to clear his throat again. “D-Don’t you want to try these?” he croaks and gestures to the box.  

“Sure!” Lance exclaims and now the bright smile is back on his face. Seems like Keith’s own embarrassment somehow managed to calm Lance’s.

Keith feels dizzy, when he follows Lance to sit on the sofa. It feels like his body and mind still haven’t really caught up with what exactly just happened.

And why is he sitting so close to Lance? Their knees are touching, when Lance puts the box in his lap.

Keith pulls a face, when he sees the messy chocolate.

“It… probably doesn’t taste very good though,” he says and Lance nudges his shoulder.

“Don’t say that!”

And with that he pops one piece of chocolate into his mouth. Keith stares in awe, when he sees how Lance’s eyelids flutter close and a pleased groan leaves him.

“Oh my god,” he opens his eyes and looks at Keith. “It’s chocolate.”

And then he starts laughing. “Oh my god this is amazing! How did you do it?”

“Honestly, I have no idea, Hunk helped me.”

“God, Hunk is amazing, this is almost exactly the same,” Lance sighs and takes another piece.

“Really?”

“Didn’t you try it?!”

“No,” Keith admits and realizes that he was too occupied with shaping this mess that he didn’t stop to taste it.

“Here! Try it!” Lance says and lifts the box.

Keith stares at the dark substance and suddenly remembers the meaty fruit it’s made off. He pulls a face, but still takes out a piece.

Keith’s eyes go wide, when the familiar taste of chocolate fills his mouth. He feels how it melts on his tongue and a soft sound escapes him. It tastes like home. Keith licks his lips to savor every last bit of it.

 “Hey, Keith.”

“Hm?”

Keith turns to look at Lance and suddenly he feels a pair of soft, warm lips pressed to his. It only lasts a second, but it’s enough for Keith to realize that Lance tastes sweeter than chocolate.

“Happy Valentine’s day,” Lance croaks, when he leans back and Keith swears that he has never seen a person get this red before.

But he probably doesn’t look any different, when he lifts his hand to touch his lips in surprise.

“W-Well!” Lance almost yells and leaps up from his seat. “I think Hunk wanted to make lunch!”

Keith almost expects Lance to rush out of the room, but he stops to offer Keith a hand.

“You coming?”

Keith smiles and takes it. He immediately intertwines their fingers and chuckles, when he feels how Lance tenses beside him.

Lance audibly swallows.

“Let’s go.”

Lance hand is slightly sweaty but Keith is sure that his isn’t any better as nervous as he feels. His heart is still beating fast in his chest, but he can’t remember the last time he felt this happy.

They walk in comfortable silence until Keith can hear the familiar sound of their family preparing lunch, in the kitchen down the hallway.

“Lance, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“When is your birthday?”

“In July. Why are you asking?”

Keith chuckles and shakes his head.

“Oh, no particular reason,” he says, when they enter the kitchen and Hunk greets them with a bright smile on his face.


End file.
